Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

LOWELL, Mass. – Senior Cayla Tulley (Corona, Calif.) grabbed an RBI single and a walk, as the UMass Lowell softball team (6-19, AE 1-4) dropped its home-opening doubleheader against UAlbany (18-7, AE 7-1) on Wednesday afternoon.

The River Hawks fell, 9-1, in five innings in game one before dropping game two, 8-0.

Senior Elizabeth Frederick (Sunapee, N.H.), junior Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I) and graduate student Brenna Davenport (Merrimack, N.H.) all added a hit to the stat sheet, while Tow contributed a run on the afternoon.

Sophomore Giana LaCedra (Tyngsboro, Mass.) started game one in the circle, going 3.1 innings pitched with one strikeout before freshman Olivia DeCitise (Troy, N.H.) finished the contest, allowing two hits and grabbing two strikeouts. Graduate student Ryley White (Wareham, Mass.) started game two, pitching 5.0 innings with five strikeouts before junior Jen Slanovec (Bethlehem, Pa.) and DeCitise came in for relief. Slanovec finished the contest with three hits and one run allowed.

The Great Danes grabbed a bases-loaded opportunity to start game one with a walk and two singles before Victoria Vilachario scored the opponent's first run after being hit by a pitch. UAlbany extended its lead with a grand slam from Wendi Hammond to make it 5-0 after the first. In the top of the third, Vilachario added an RBI double to build the lead to 6-0.

The away team added three more runs in the top of the fourth to make the buffer 9-0 before Frederick legged out an infield single for the River Hawks' first hit in the home half of the inning.

UMass Lowell's defense extinguished a bases-loaded opportunity for the Great Danes in the top of the fifth and carried that momentum into the bottom half. Tow started things off with a single and a stolen base before advancing on a ball put in play by Davenport. Tulley then delivered an RBI single to right field to create the 9-1 decision that would hold.

Game two was a defensive battle through the first four innings, as both sides accounted for two hits, while R.White fanned four batters during the stretch.

UAlbany broke the game open in the top of the fifth, starting with a leadoff single from Sara Anderson. After recording two outs, the Great Danes grabbed back-to-back hits, including a two-RBI single from Mary Kate Murray to open the scoring. The visitors extended the buffer in the following inning, with a two-run home run from Victoria Vilarchao, making it 4-0 after six innings.

The away team added three more runs in the top of the sixth and a home run in the seventh to pull away for an 8-0 outcome.

The River Hawks are back on the road for a three-game series at UMBC on April 13-14 starting at 12 p.m.